Wednesday, March 19

What's Better Than Desert Wildflowers? Shrimp Tacos, That's What.

Ever since we moved to Southern California five years ago, every spring we hear the same chorus: “You’ve got to go to Anza-Borrego. They have the most gorgeous wildflowers you’ve ever seen.”

Every spring Jeff tries to convince me to drive the 2 ½ hours to see them, and every spring I find some excuse not to. It’s not the drive (I love driving). It’s just that we have flowers everywhere we look here. Plus, I'm a fall foliage girl.

Two weekends ago, however, San Diego was all abuzz about this being the BEST wildflower season since 2005 (because of our unusually high rainfall-- a whopping 4.43 inches since last July). Jeff asked again, and I just couldn't say no. So we packed a lunch, grabbed our maps, and drove to Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

Apparently every person within the San Diego county limits decided to go to Anza-Borrego that day too. After waiting in line at the visitors’ center for nearly 30 minutes, a park ranger told us, “It’s a sea of brilliant color out there. Almost as good as 2005! You guys definitely picked the right day.” Jeff flashed me a big smile and said, “See, we picked the right day!”

We followed his directions and ended up on a dusty, dirt road. Jeff hopped out of the car, and said, “Wow! Look at those purple flowers!”

“You mean the weeds?” I said.

“They’re not weeds, they’re wildflowers. Look at them all!” he said.

“They look like weeds,” I said.

Anza-Borrego is technically a desert, which in my translation means sand with weeds in it. Based upon the “oohs” and “aahs” I was hearing, and the obscene number of Nikon D80's snapping pictures, it seems I was the only one not impressed.

So I went along: “Ooh, look at all those purple weeds.”

OK, I admit, there were some lovely flowers, but the best part of the day was the ride home. We stopped at an orange and grapefruit grove where we bought a 15-pound bag of freshly picked navel oranges for $3 and a 15-pound bag of pink grapefruits for $4! Fresh fruit at a bargain price—it just doesn’t get better. I was very impressed.

The scenery was spectacular; we finally saw the “sea of brilliant colors” we were promised, and it was awe-inspiring. We even spotted a few idyllic farms.

We ended the day with a simple, delicious meal of shrimp tacos with citrus-avocado salsa. Our fresh sweet oranges and tart grapefruits were tossed with creamy local avocados (from Terri, who you’ll learn more about in a later post) and sprinkled on top of spicy, crispy shrimp tacos. I took one bite and declared, “Now this was worth 5 hours of driving.”

To make the salsa, simply combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl and toss gently until well combined.

Place the shrimp in a large bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook 5 to 6 minutes, turning to ensure that they brown evenly on both sides. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime over the shrimp and sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Remove to a plate when cooked.

To assemble tacos, heat tortillas in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1 minute per side or, using metal tongs, simply hold over an open flame until warmed and slightly charred. Place three shrimp on each tortilla; serve with salsa and extra fresh cilantro for garnish. Serve immediately.

58 comments:

We have been planning to do what you and Jeff just did for more than 5 years. The only difference is that we would have to fly, so the logistics are a bit more complicated. I am glad you enjoyed the day. The photos are lovely and the fruit was a real bargain.

you know, we had planned on driving out to the desert this past weekend to see the flowers but decided to put it off until this weekend. we heard that it was like a sea of cars out in the desert! i still want to go, but i think i'd be willing to settle for some great shrimp tacos and a $4 15lb bag of grapefruit!

I chuckled when I read your and Jeff's conversation :) ... but that ocean of flowers, got to be paradise on earth!Susan, excuse me being nosy :P... do you upload your photos via Blogger (apology if my guessing wrong)? I used to use Blogger, but my photos lost some "charity", so I switch to Flickr... Your photos are brillant, so I think they will look even sharper from Flickr.

I can entirely sympathize with your enthusiasm to make a long trip to see flowers...sort of like how when I lived up north, and people would plan all of these trips to go see the leaves changing in autumn. To me, there's plenty of trees dying and dropping their leaves right here! But anyways...

The food sounds great! I am a bit cautious around shrimp (I'm still breaking out of my shell with seafood...ah bad puns at 7 AM), but this sounds like something I would very eagerly try.

I love grapefruit, I love shrimp tacos, and I love long car rides -- but right now, on this oh-so-bleak Rhode Island morning, I'm most of all enjoying the virtual view of those hillsides covered with wildflowers.

despite the massive amount of tacos i've consumed in the past week, i will still gladly eat several to a dozen of these. shrimp tacos with citrus and avocado are *clearly* better that colorful desert weeds.

I'm the type of guy that would have been impressed by the "weeds." I love splashes of color wherever I can find them, and that valley shot is majestic! The shrimp tacos have some pretty fetching splashes of color, too!

kalyn-I've heard Utah has good fall foliage too, but I'm skeptical since I grew up in New England. I'd still love to see Utah, though.

susan-It was refreshing and light.

amanda-Go early, if you do go. Seriously. The traffic is ridiculous.

cmoore-I know. It's so beautiful.

gattina-Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've just been playing around with it, and they do look sharper from Flickr than Blogger. I couldn't figure out why they were losing their sharpness, now thanks to you I do. :)

mike-Yeah, plus for me, foliage means one place: New England. It's a great and tasty way to get accustomed to seafood.

lydia-Glad to share a little spring weather with you.

meeta-Weeds, bad. Tacos, good.

gretchen-It was fun.

happy cook-Absolutely!

peter-Killah! ;)

lore-Trust me, they don't. My family thought I was insane when I first mentioned them.

rowena-Sounds like a good deal to me. :)

judy-I hope you like it. The citrus compliments the seafood deliciously.

alanna-:)

michelle-I like you. :) Thanks for visiting.

tw-"Majestic!" Wow! Thanks, TW. You always know how to make me smile. :)

I love shrimp tacos, and I think I'll take the ride just for the fruit!

I've learned over the years that there are desert people and then there are the rest. Some people just flip over the subtleties of the colors of the desert, and others prefer the acid colors that smack you in the face. Both are fine, as long as you know which one you'd prefer a long drive to go see!

OMG...that is a great story. I was cracking up imagining you looking at the purple "weeds"-- unimpressed. But like you said five hours of driving seems a small price to pay for those delicious looking tacos! I'm bookmarking this one to try.

Oh Susan I love your humorous post titles and giggle-inducing stories. I agree about the wildflowers.

When I lived in Arizona, I did very much enjoy one event - right after a rainfall, the light green misting of grass over the foothills always made me sigh. Personally, I find the grand views of mountain scenery and large scale color striation much more enjoyable than closeups of the brown vegetation.

i love fish tacos...but have never had a shrimp taco before. i LOVE anything with avocados in it, so this looks amazing to me! :) the flowers didn't look all that impressive to me either, but that picture of the sweeping landscape w/the sea of flowers is pretty awesome :)